Valentine’s Day is upon us. A day of love and romance, there are many do’s and don’ts, but have no fear — Auntie Mack is here to ensure your day is filled with love. Just follow these tips and you’ll be set!

You will only benefit from Valentine’s Day, also known as  Single Awareness Day (S.A.D.), if you truly appreciate it. “Be one with the love,” said the Great Holder of Knowledge, President Hatch. 

Valentine’s Day is a holiday of love — not just among significant others, but friends and family. Once that is recognized, you can finally help the Black Eyed Peas find where the love is and move onto the next step before you can say “those basketball Deacs can’t hit the net even if it hit them first.”

Now that you are in harmony with the holiday, you can properly celebrate this love. First off, show that you are a Valentiner — someone who truly appreciates the holiday. This can be done by decorating, and your fave Auntie Mackie has some great decorating tips. 

For starters, it is very hard to go wrong with red, pink and white when decorating for this holiday. And when in doubt, kiss it out. (Chocolate kisses, of course. Your Auntie Mack would never encourage such behavior. Wink, wink). But seriously, chocolate kisses stick well to tape, come off relatively easy and are cheap. So between that, hearts, lights and rom-com movie recommendations all over your door, you have now officially told the world, a.k.a. your hall, that you have made peace with the holiday and are in business.

So you’ve properly decorated the outside of your room, but change is also needed within. Target has great options in the College Student’s Paradise Section — the dollar section. Items there and some small candy goodies in the seasonal area, like a bundle of eight red Tootsie Pops for a dollar, can be used as a great little way to demonstrate your inner spiritual changes with the love holiday to yourself, your roommate, suitemates, love interests, and as a way to show you’ve moved on from an old love interests. You can do anything your heart desires!

“But Auntie Mack,” you may ask, “we all know what the holiday is for. We want tips for that!” Well, yes, Valentine’s Day can be that unless it’s a S.A.D. holiday for you. But for those of you for whom it isn’t, then remember that it’s about the sentimental gifts. A red Ferrari does the trick as well. One way to show your spirit (minus the car) is candy grams. These under-appreciated gifts are small gestures that can go a long way. Support your local organization or club that may be selling some right now, or make your own and deliver yourself. Be creative! I would suggest doing more than just a rose and candy, but a rose and candy with a card that says “You are the Skittles to my rainbow. Without you, I would be in Reese’s Pieces.” Simple gestures like this that only take a smidgin of effort say a lot and make Valentine’s Day worthwhile.

For those celebrating S.A.D., remember to be one with the holiday and hang out with some friends. Valentine’s Day is a day of love among friends and family as well, so call some of the family back home, hang with some friends at Shorty’s or a watch a movie together with a tub of ice cream from the market. Even if your Valentine’s date is an English paper due in about 32 minutes, make plans for the weekend. This is the benefit of having the holiday on Thursday; Friday is right around the corner. And toast to being single!